Use it or Lose it!

While it is indeed welcome news that the Tremont Post Office in Llandrindod has earned a reprieve, that is seemingly the only concession that Post Office Limited has made to the people of Mid Wales. Post Offices are being closed across the region and much will now hinge on whether Post Office Limited is able to secure the contract for operating the Post Office Card Account which enables card holders to draw their benefits and pensions in cash.

As Kirsty Williams AM and Roger Williams MP have pointed out: “… this attack on the post office network is just the latest example of the utter disdain that successive Conservative and Labour Governments have shown to rural areas like Brecon and Radnorshire. More than 4000 post offices have closed under this Labour Government to follow the 3500 that were closed under the Conservatives, during a period when the Post Office actually made big profits. These closures are part of a wider pattern of gradually reducing public services in rural areas that we are determined to resist.”

So their message to all the people in the communities of rural Mid Wales who still have a post office is ‘Use it or Lose it’. The remaining post offices will only survive the next round of closures if they can demonstrate that they consistently handle a sufficient number of Post Office related transactions.